The Question that Almost Stumped Willy Wonka
by Yva J
Summary: When Charlie moves into the factory, he raises a question that almost stumps the Amazing Chocolatier.


_Here's another Depp Wonka one shot for you. I am not really fond of this as much as I am with the other story I did with this characterization, but the question sort of hit me the day I watched the 05 movie some time ago and thought I'd toss it out there for you. It's about the continuity of the film, but it made for interesting ponderings nonetheless.  
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_At any rate, it's just random silliness, and how my brain sometimes operates when I haven't had enough caffeine in my diet!_

_Enjoy._

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**The Question That Almost Stumped Willy Wonka**

By: Yva J.

Willy Wonka had been asked many questions in his life. In fact, his entire existence seemed to be based on questions; whether it be questions about candy making, his philosophies, or what the meaning of life was?

How did you make the Everlasting Gobstopper?

How many Oompa Loompas does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Have you ever watched the parrot sketch in 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'?

Does chewing gum really loose its flavor on the bedpost over night?

Who made the first chocolate that you ever tried?

Whether the questions were of significance to him or the answers completely irrelevant, Willy Wonka was always a person who could answer any question, or at the very least, divert the focus long enough so he wouldn't have to.

At least it had been this way up until about a week after the Golden Ticket tour had taken place.

The great irony was that the question that had been raised had actually emerged from someone he liked, not someone annoying like Mrs. Beauregarde or a know-it-all like Mr. Teavee. It would have probably been much easier if the question had actually come from one of those people who aggravated the wangdoodle out of him.

If that had actually been the case, then he could shoot back a rude response without his conscience starting to get the better of him.

Instead, however, the question that somehow managed to stump him came from the 12-year-old boy who was now the heir of his entire chocolate empire.

Charlie Bucket had asked him a number of questions while on the tour, and he had always been able to answer them without any problem. Why was this question any different? And why did it have to come from the boy, and not from one of the many aggravating people he had encountered since the Golden Ticket contest started?

Perhaps it was the boy's grandfather who had instigated this. Joe had told the boy the story of Prince Pondicherry and the chocolate palace that he had created in India several years ago. Without the knowledge of this, the amazing chocolatier had absolutely no idea where the question could have come from. Worse still, it was a question that successfully stumped him for a time.

"You told Mr. Teavee that you have the factory at a warm temperature because your workers hate the cold, right?" Charlie had asked.

"Uh-huh," Willy had responded, all the while having no idea where this was heading, but hoping that it would end so that he could return his attention to his inventing.

"Well, how can it be that even though it feels like a sauna in here, that the chocolate never melts? I mean; the chocolate in India melted, so why doesn't it do it here?"

Willy had opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. This action repeated itself several times, but this was something that he had never really contemplated. For whatever reason it had actually worked, but he could not calculate the precise reason as to why.

Finally, not knowing what to say, he looked at Charlie. "Sorry, all questions have to be submitted in writing."

"In other words, you have no idea," Charlie had responded and for a 12-year-old, he had managed to wipe Willy's smugness away without so much as trace of difficulty.

In the wake of this question being asked, Willy was haunted for weeks on end. He spent much of his time trying to concoct a snappy answer to Charlie's question, but none of the answers he came up with worked. They all seemed unsatisfactory at best.

There was no question remaining in Willy's mind. Unless he came up with an adequate response to Charlie's question, then the would continue to regard him with that silly grin on his face.

Several weeks after the question had been raised, Willy had still not managed to find and adequate response.

Finally, one day, when the two friends had met for their usual afternoon brainstorming session in the Inventing Room, did Willy finally came up with an answer. Why did he not think of it before?

"Charlie, about that question you asked me some time ago," he began.

"Yes?" The boy stopped everything he was doing and looked at the chocolatier. It was obvious that the child did not need to be reminded of the question. Instead of indicating that Willy repeat the question for his benefit, he waited for the chocolatier to answer.

"Maybe responding to the question about the meaning of life would have been a much easier one for me to answer…" he began with a nervous giggle.

The boy began to laugh. "You don't know the answer, and here I thought you knew everything."

"You only wish I knew everything," Willy chuckled, but pulled out a small stack of note-cards. "The answer to your question is very simple. We have cold rooms here at the factory that are run by machines. None of the Oompa Loompas actually go into these rooms, so they are kept toasty warm."

"OK, so will you answer another question for me?"

"It depends," the chocolatier hedged. "Will it be as complicated as that one was?"

"No," Charlie said, but a small smile was still on the boy's face. Willy started to feel a little bit nervous about the prospect of responding. Instead, he waited for Charlie to speak. "That doesn't sound so difficult to me, so why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

Willy Wonka sighed, but covered his face with his purple gloved hands. I'm going to have to watch out for that one, he thought with an exasperating sigh, he's a tricky one.


End file.
